GreenTech

Four companies were the recipients of a GreenTech Innovation Award, conferred last Tuesday after the opening of the trade fair in the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre. But what is so special about their innovative products or services? We spoke with Ruud Schulte of Van der Ende Groep, winner of the Sustainability Award, and Rob Schoones of Impact Award winner Priva.

As the manager of the water treatment division, Ruud Schulte was responsible for developing the Poseidon Sodium Extractor: a BZG-certified machine that not only removes crop protection agents from drain water, but also uses membrane technology to extract sodium from it. ‘As a result, you will only need to discharge 20% of the water you would normally have to drain off. Apart from this, you can retain 50% of your nutrients, which would otherwise simply disappear into the sewer.’

Sustainable water management

The Poseidon is an exceptionally effective solution for sustainable water management and will help you save water as well as fertilizers, while ensuring that you satisfy your water purification obligation. ‘Another advantage is that this will help you keep the sodium level in your drain silo constant throughout the year. Most horticulturists will start giving their plants more water once the sodium level in the drain water becomes too high, and will keep this up until it becomes low enough. This results in fluctuations in the root environment and inhibits plant growth.’
Eight machines are currently in use for various types of crops. The users are unanimously enthusiastic – also because of the higher crop yield per square metre thanks to the Poseidon, says Schulte. ‘The machine was explicitly developed for the Dutch market, but we have noticed a great deal of interest from other countries. Too high sodium levels just as much of a problem in other countries, too! Also, farmers growing crops in arid conditions will be able to reuse water much longer thanks to the Poseidon.’

Priva Academy

Rob Schoones is the team leader of the Priva Academy, recipient of the Impact Award. ‘The Priva Academy is a learning environment developed for the Priva organisation worldwide. At present, we are also using this environment to train our partners in the fields of Vertical Farming/Indoor Growing as well as Building Automation and Horticulture. With regard to Horticulture, we are currently using the Priva Academy training the end users, the growers, too. We do this free of charge and for all growers, even those that do not use a Priva computer. Our training covers topics like climate, irrigation, energy management and labour and cultivation registration, and starts at domain level. For instance: how do you create a climate and what does it involve specifically? And how can you respond to this with Priva equipment? Of course, growers with a different system can also translate what they learn to their own equipment.

Virtual learning

Schoones emphasises that the Priva Academy provides e-learning courses. ‘We ask questions to help you learn, and you can keep track of your progress online where you will also find your marks after completing the course. Each course has its own discussion board. When you ask a question it will automatically be forwarded to us, as well as the course instructor. We will then make sure you get an answer as soon as possible. Other students can also respond to this question, just like in a classroom. This is virtual learning with a personal touch.’
Priva Academy is currently training 1,400 students in 32 countries. The courses are available in four languages (Dutch, German, English and French), explains Schoones – with a hint of pride resounding in his voice. ‘We will soon be adding Spanish. All of these languages are currently available in our courses for the buildings market, and we are still in the process of making them available for the horticulture sector. It is still work in progress: we have currently digitised approximately 20 to 30% of our knowledge and put this online. Our primary focus is on making new content, which is first published in English as this reaches a worldwide audience.’

Collaboration with schools

What’s new is that schools can now also make use of the Priva Academy online training courses, free of charge. ‘Of course, there are conditions associated with this, about which we make agreements beforehand. Permission to use the Priva Academy to train groups is subject to certain agreements. Additionally, our content cannot be used for commercial purposes. We also make agreements about mutual promotion. We let our growers know which schools use the Priva Academy so that they can contact a school in the Netherlands or abroad when they are looking for a work placement student. We also promote schools that offer supplementary courses for businesses and, in doing so, aim to come full circle. The idea is to bring students more closely in contact with the horticulture community and, while doing so, bridge the gap between training and practice. When we launch a new product, the course will already be available in the Academy.’

Four companies were the recipients of a GreenTech Innovation Award, conferred last Tuesday after the opening of the trade fair in the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre. But what is so special about their innovative products and services? Read on for a brief interview with Richard Groenewegen of Visser Horti Systems, overall winner of the GreenTech Innovation Award, and Theo Straathof, Managing Director of Micothon, co-winner in the Concept Award category.

Sales Engineer Richard Groenewegen is in charge of designing machines at Visser Horti Systems, winner of the GreenTech Innovation Award. Visser makes filling, planting, pricking out and sowing machines for the young plant industry. ‘We developed a machine together with our customers that automatically transplants cuttings in a pot or tray. The cuttings are sticked using a sort of cartridge: the AutoStix strip, for which we have developed two types of strips: a small one for 51 cuttings and a larger one for 34 cuttings. This system is suitable for 90% of all cuttings – whether from potted plants or cut flowers.’

Sticking cuttings more intelligently

The strips are fed into the machine manually, after which a gripper automatically cuts off a piece of the strip, and transplants the cutting into a pot or tray in the AutoStix. This machine does this much faster than a human being can, who can plant 1,000 cuttings in an hour, explains Groenewegen. ‘Equipped with six grippers, our machine can process 10,000 cuttings per hour – and does this much more accurately, too. As a result, each cutting is planted in exactly the same manner. This leads to better quality and uniformity in the greenhouse.’
Cuttings from the mother stock can be sticked and will take root directly in the biologically degradable strips. This leads to additional savings and shortens the overall cultivation process. ‘Cuttings often take four to six weeks to root. This step can now be skipped. Rooting stations will no longer be necessary,’ says Groenewegen.

Autonomous scouting robot

Theo Straathof is the proud managing director of Micothon. Micothon was conferred a joint GreenTech Concept Award together with Metazet-FormFlex and Ecoation for their IRIS! scout robot. The robot can detect pests and diseases in the greenhouse before they are visible to the naked eye, explains Straathof. ‘What’s revolutionary about the entire thing is the green cabinet with sensors and lamps that radiate laser light. Due to the way in which light is reflected, the robot can see if a plant is affected by a disease or a deficiency in a specific nutrient. The robot – which can scout 1.5 hectares in 12 hours – stores this information and subsequently relays it to Ecoation every day, where the data is analysed. The user will then get a map of his greenhouse within a few hours that shows exactly where every deviation was discovered. This replaces manual scouting.’

Self-learning function

The scout robot has a self-learning function that can also be used to collect other data – such as temperature, humidity and CO2. Not only that, it can be equipped with a sensor that registers information like how dirty the greenhouse roof is. Having this data available makes it easier to take targeted action and saves labour, continues Straathof. ‘Scouting requires trained individuals, of which there is a distinct lack – particularly abroad. The robot can also be used to spray specific sections of the greenhouse, or to set out natural enemies. You will , however, need a qualified employee for this.’
The robot was made fully autonomous – this was a requirement – and virtually unbreakable in collaboration with Metazet-FormFlex. The scanner and data processing system were developed by the Canadian firm of Ecoation. The robot is currently still in its prototype stage and will be tested at several horticultural firms after GreenTech. Straathof expects the robot to be launched on the market sometime in 2019.

The rising popularity of vertical farming was clearly demonstrated at the GreenTech trade fair, held this year from 12 to 14 July in the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre. GreenTech Amsterdam organised the GreenTech Amsterdam Vertical Farming Pavilion for the second time in a row, in collaboration with the Association for Vertical Farming.

As the co-organiser of the Vertical Farming Pavilion, the Association for Vertical Farming (AVF) was prominently present at the theme pavilion. In addition to this, the AVF held several round-table lectures at the AVF café, at which various experts in vertical farming spoke.

Farming without human interference

The topics addressed during the round-table lectures included the standardisation and use of data in vertical farming, innovation within vertical farming systems, growing crops for medicinal purposes and artificial intelligence (AI) in vertical farming. According to Ramin Ebrahimnejad, press & media manager at AVF, artificial intelligence – the last topic in the above list – is rapidly gaining in importance in vertical farming. ‘Learning machines will be playing an increasingly strong role in vertical farming methods’, says Ebrahimnejad. ‘Thanks to the combination of machines that can learn and artificial intelligence vertical farming the time will come soon when no human interference will be needed.’

‘Technology is of primary importance’

Consulting engineer Damion Schwarzkachel of Certhon agrees with Ebrahimnejad. ‘In the next five years, vertical farming will focus on controlled growth conditions, for which no human beings will be needed’, professes Schwarzkachel. Certhon was one of the approximately twenty companies with a stand at the Vertical Farming Pavilion. ‘Automation and scale increase in vertical farming will be playing an increasingly important role in the next few years’, predicts the company’s consulting engineer. ‘In this, technology will be of paramount importance with regard to development.’

Higher-quality crops

According to Ebrahimnejad, another development in vertical farming is the increasing diversity of the crops being grown. ‘There is currently a movement that promotes a greater diversity in crops grown with vertical farming techniques. Cannabis is becoming increasingly interesting, but there are many other high-quality crops that are currently being grown more frequently using vertical farming methods.’ This trend can also be discerned in tests currently being conducted on raspberry and strawberry crops at the Certhon Innovation Center. ‘The profitability of vertically growing raspberries and strawberries still has to be proven’, concludes Schwarzkachel, ‘but we will be able to tell you more about this as soon as the results come in.’

The third edition of GreenTech Amsterdam, which runs from 12 to 14 June, will be twenty percent bigger than the last edition in 2016. By the end of March, ninety-seven percent of the available stand space had been allocated. According to the organisers, RAI Amsterdam, this proves that the event has really made its mark as an international platform for the horticultural sector. As in previous years the trade fair will feature a wide range of seminars, some of which will be held in the new themed pavilions.

Awaiting the international delegates this year will be at least 450 exhibitors, including world market leaders and innovators in horticultural technology and a full compliment of greenhouse builders, horticultural suppliers, machinery companies, potting compost and substrate producers, lighting vendors and seed suppliers.

Knowledge programme

Ever since the first GreenTech in 2014, the organisers have aimed to make this trade fair stand out from other similar events by offering a wide-ranging knowledge programme. The upcoming edition will therefore feature more than 80 seminar sessions spread over three theatres: Food & Flower Crops, Climate, Water & Energy, and Trends & Innovation.

In addition to the Vertical Farming Pavilion introduced in 2016, this year’s event features two new pavilions: the Precision Horticulture Pavilion and the Medicinal Crops Pavilion. The Precision Horticulture Pavilion will showcase censoring technology, cameras, robotisation and digitisation, while the Medicinal Crops Pavilion will focus mainly on technology for medicinal cannabis production, a subject that will also feature in the knowledge programme.

Following its success two years ago, the Vertical Farming Pavilion is to make another appearance this year. “In 2016 we embraced the discussions going on within the sector as to whether this would be the future of global food production,” exhibition manager Mariska Dreschler says. “The fact is that it is a very interesting development from a technological point of view. In this pavilion we explain exactly what the technology entails and we will also be demonstrating some cultivation systems, reflecting some of the many new initiatives in this field in recent years.”

Objective dialogue

The informative theatres are partly made possible by some of the international heavyweights of the horticultural sector, including Koppert, Biobest, Svensson, Hoogendoorn, Hortimax, Priva, Philips and Alumat. “We are very proud that these companies and organisations have expressly affiliated themselves with this initiative,” Dreschler says. As of early April, it is hoped that even more companies will contribute to the knowledge sessions. “Their knowledge and expertise make these sessions a must for any grower. Together we will produce an outstanding programme that shines the spotlight on the international grower’s day-to-day practice.”

Advisory Board

A committee of experts is advising the organisers on the themes, subjects and speakers for the knowledge programme. This Advisory Board was set up to ensure an objective dialogue on subjects of topical interest within the rapidly evolving horticultural sector.

The members of the Advisory Board for this edition are: Sjaak Bakker, chair (Wageningen University & Research), Aad van den Berg (Delphy), Gabrielle Nuijtens (Top Sector Horticulture & Propagating Materials) and Michael Ploeg (Dalsem). “We are delighted to have such a prominent Advisory Board at our side,” the exhibition manager says. “This way we can ensure that the knowledge programme is made up of sessions that will challenge growers and encourage them to push the boundaries. The Board’s expertise and experience are of inestimable value to our programme.”

The Organic Farmers Fair

This year GreenTech will also be the venue for The Organic Farmers Fair (TOFF). For three days, the spotlight will be shone on knowledge and innovation in organic agriculture and horticulture. This part of the event came about as a result of a collaboration with IFOAM and FiBL and has been made possible partly thanks to five partners: Bejo, DCM, Steketee, Koppert Biological Systems and Delphy. Wageningen University & Research is also involved as a supporting partner.

The organisers have put together a high-quality knowledge programme on organic farming, with in-depth coverage of the most relevant issues in this field. TOFF is aiming to become an international meeting place for organic growers as well as conventional growers considering the switch to organic.

Forefront role in organic farming

The Netherlands plays a leading role in the technical development of both organic and conventional agriculture and in increasing and improving production. The domestic market grew by 11.5% in 2015 and by 13% in 2016, to around €1.5 billion, with exports of €1.2 billion. The total EU market exceeded €30 billion in 2016. Annual turnover in the world market is heading towards the €100 billion mark.

Markets are developing fast, but so is organic farming technology, with several thousand companies supplying products and services to organic farmers across the globe. So it was a logical step to combine the momentum of the TOFF event with GreenTech 2018 at RAI Amsterdam. Delegates can also take the opportunity to visit some innovative organic farms and demo fields in the Netherlands.

The future of horticulture

The GreenTech Summit takes place on 11 June, the day before the exhibition opens. This seminar offers 750 investors, breeders and growers a unique opportunity to network and to take part in a high-quality programme of sessions. Under the title “The future of horticulture – insights for the next decade”, visionaries and experts will be sharing their vision of the world of horticulture over the next ten years.

The summit will be hosted by stand-up comedian Greg Shapiro and will feature speakers including Stijn Baan (Koppert Cress), Martin Koppert (Koppert Biological Systems), Mike Vermeij (BOM Group) and Christian Kromme, futurist, speaker and author of “Humanification”. Kromme will help unlock the DNA of innovation and will explain how to apply it in our horticultural businesses and our daily lives.

Flower Trials

The direct tie-in with the Flower Trials breeders’ event delivers great added value, the exhibition organisers believe. “The two events were held simultaneously in 2014, and there was some mutual interaction in 2016. We will be continuing this collaboration this year,” Dreschler says.

A greenhouse is to be built in the exhibition hall, where ornamentals breeders taking part in the popular open days will be presenting their products. Vegetable breeders’ crops will also be on display, ensuring that this key greenhouse horticulture segment is also represented at the show. The breeders’ pavilion looks set to be an impressive experience and a good starting point for the visits to breeder organisations.

Innovation Award

One of the highlights of the first two editions of GreenTech was the much coveted Innovation Award, which attracts more and more entries each time. This award forms part of the exhibition’s efforts to stand out internationally in the areas of knowledge transfer and innovation. “We want to showcase all the latest trends and developments,” Dreschler says. “I would even go so far as to say that no other horticultural trade fair in the world shines the spotlight so emphatically on its innovations.”

Annual international trade fair

Dreschler says she will regard the 2018 edition as a success if it gives rise to synergies between exhibitors and delegates that lead to potential business. “We will once again use every indicator at our disposal to gauge satisfaction levels among the various target groups. If delegates tell us that they have learned something new and will come back to Amsterdam again next time, then we’ve done a good job.”

Note that the fourth edition of GreenTech will not be taking place in 2020 but in 2019, as the organisers have decided to turn it into an annual international trade fair.

Summary

The third edition of GreenTech takes place in Amsterdam in mid-June. This year’s event will be bigger than the last one in 2016, both in terms of floor area and delegate numbers from the Netherlands and abroad. This time there will be even more focus on knowledge transfer and innovation: various themed pavilions will highlight topical issues in international greenhouse horticulture, and an independent Advisory Board will be keeping a close eye on the quality of the knowledge programme. The organisers have decided to switch to an annual event from 2019 onwards.

A jury chaired by Jan Willem Breukink, former CEO of the Incotec Group, selected 22 nominees for the GreenTech Innovation Awards from all trade fair entries. There are four prizes to win in as many categories. The awards will be presented on the opening day of the GreenTech trade fair (12 to 14 June) in Amsterdam.

On Thursday 16 June Svensson and Hoogendoorn accepted the GreenTech Community Award 2016 for their mutual innovation 'Connected Screening'. The software module casted most public votes.

Hoogendoorn and Svensson introduced 'Connected Screening' during the GreenTech in Amsterdam. The software module calculates the effect of various screens on ventilation, humidity transfer, energy savings and transmission of light and outgoing long wave radiation based on the Svensson screen characteristics and position. With this accurate data growers can achieve more screening hours without risking high humidity levels below fully closed screens. This allows growers to achieve a homogeneous climate, higher crop yields and up to 20% extra energy savings. Data is presented at a glance via a custom-made visualization.

Next Generation Growing

Field research within the Next Generation Growing (NGG) shows that the highest crop yields are achieved under double layer energy screens and completely closed screens (without gaps). However, in practice this is often hard to realize due to a mismatch of screen characteristics or inefficient use of climate control. This leads to an unstable greenhouse climate. The consequence: an increase in pests and diseases that negatively affects crop quality and yields. Hoogendoorn Growth Management and Svensson respond to these needs with the new screening software Connected Screening, specifically developed for the iSii process computer.

In the weeks before the GreenTech the public had the opportunity to cast their vote for their favorite innovation (out of 73 entries). 'Connected Screening' received 46% of the votes, followed by Priva's deleafing robot (36% of the votes) and HortiMax Go! of Ridder HortiMax (9% of the votes).

Priva won the GreenTech Innovation Award 2016 yesterday at the international trade show in Amsterdam. The company was the winner in the category Equipment as well as the overall winner, beating a total of 73 entries. With the robot, christened Kompano at the Priva stand, deleafing tomato plants can be done completely automatically and profitably for the first time.

The prize was awarded during the opening of the GreenTech on 14 June by the chairman of the jury, Aalt Dijkhuizen. In the jury’s opinion, the robot is an innovative solution for tomato growers for the difficult work of deleafing. The robot is able to do it entirely independently. In addition, it is an economically appealing alternative. Because it very accurately removes the leaves from tomato plants, viruses do not get a chance to spread.

Development

The development of the robot took at least 15 years. Priva developed the robot in cooperation with a large number of growers, so the product has received ample field testing. The jury views Priva’s innovation as the start of a large series of robots, which will be developed for horticulture in the coming years to efficiently take care of strenuous work. They therefore identified the Priva deleafing robot as heralding the beginning of a new era for international horticulture.

Thanks to the most up-to-date vision technologies, the robot can work day and night. This allows the robot to work, on average, just as fast as a human. The accuracy of deleafing is about 95%. Three growers from the consortium that developed the robot - Lans, Prominent and Vereijken Kwekerijen - will be the first to start working with the robot. From June of 2017 on, the robot will also be available to growers outside the consortium. Pre-orders may be placed online.

Priva will put the robot on the market as a service, so that growers will be able to benefit from the innovation immediately, without incurring high investment costs. With this first generation of the deleafing robot, 0.75 to 1 hectare of tomatoes can be serviced. For larger growing surfaces several robots will be needed, or it can be combined with manual labour.

Two more winners

In addition to Priva, the international jury also awarded two nominations with a category Award. ISO Group won a prize in the category Production and the HortMax-Go! by Ridder HortiMax Group won in the category Automation Solutions. The ISO Plant sampler is able to independently take samples from leaves and collect the DNA material on a microplate. In the jury’s opinion, the ISO Plant sampler offers a great, automated technique that enables work to be carried out fast and with precision.

According to the jury, the HortiMaX-Go! is a modern, user-friendly, affordable climate control and greenhouse irrigation computer. The modular system uses smart switches that can be installed in a plug-and-play manner. The innovation is intended to be entry level, so that growers all over the world will be able to use this technology.

IT company SERCOM from Lisse automated the first companies using multi-layer cultivation five years ago, well before the term Vertical Farming became a hype. At the GreenTech trade fair in Amsterdam, SERCOM will be displaying the latest process control - hardware and software - in this field.

Vertical Farming is the theme of the upcoming GreenTech trade fair in RAI Amsterdam. Vertical Farming is a global trend, and generally leafy vegetables and herbs are cultivated in closed spaces on several layers under LED-lighting. In Japan and America, Vertical Farming is on the rise, and primarily young entrepreneurs are attracted to it.

In America one Vertical Farming company after another is being set up, always in close proximity to large cities. The Association for Vertical Farming (AVF) expects that there will be a Vertical Farm next to every major urban area within 10 years. It is not surprising that multinationals like Philips, Metro, Osram, Toshiba, Microsoft, Panasonic, Fujitsu and GE are interested in it. It is not particularly popular with Dutch growers yet. But multi-layer cultivation is on the rise, especially with young plants (vegetables, potted plants) and tulip farms.

Forced tulips

SERCOM has developed climate systems for several farms in the Netherlands involved in forcing tulips with multi-layer cultivation. One of them is Karel Bolbloemen BV in Bovenkarspel. Since 2011 they have been farming vertically. That makes Karel one of the first tulip companies that started large-scale 'internal expansion' with multi-layer layers in containers with an ebb & flow system. The tulips remain in the dark for the first few days, then fluorescent light is added. SERCOM developed the system for climate control, including the cooling of the climate chambers, the lighting for the multi-layer cultivation and the irrigation of the greenhouse.

In due course, the fluorescent lighting will be replaced by LEDs. Director-owner Bert Karel thinks this will use less energy and allow better control of the plants. Research conducted by Wageningen UR in 2011 revealed that tulips respond differently to different LED-colours. There will also be a new system, in which LED-lighting will be used to improve the quality of the tulips even more and match the production better to peaks in demand. Karel Bolbloemen BV supplies tulips upon demand to supermarkets throughout Europe.

Nijssen will present the mobile climate chamber MyGrowthRoom at the GreenTech. With MyGrowthRoom cultivators and researchers will be able to efficiently optimise growth recipes and test new LED solutions.

Cultivation tests play a crucial role for cultivation under LED-lighting. Optimum light schedules and climate recipes improve the product quality and guarantee a good balance between growth cycle and energy bill. Research also shows that, for example, flavour, colour and texture can be influenced with LED-lighting. With MyGrowthRoom multiple cultivation trials can be carried out simultaneously under uniform conditions. The settings of a cultivation trial are easily saved as a recipe. MyGrowthRoom has a growing area of 6 m3, with a flexible layout and can be used with any cultivation system.

Integrated cooling and drying

Two air coolers take care of the integrated cooling, heating and drying of the cultivation room. This reduces the required cooling capacity. A separate air dryer is no longer needed. The integrated regulation allows for better manageable climate conditions in a broad temperature and RH range. With that, MyGrowthRoom is universally employable for tests with a large number of crops in every growth stage. Further energy saving is realized by storing the radiant heat from the LED lighting into a heat storage tank during the day. During the nighttime period this heat is reused to keep the room at the right temperature without extra electric heating.Various refrigeration innovations save up to 30 per cent of the energy use for cooling.

High-tech research facility

Nijssen is renowned for realising advanced climate chambers for a large number of universities and seed improvement companies. “All of the know-how from these high-tech research projects is combined in MyGrowthRoom," explains Edwin Snabel, business unit manager climate technology for Nijssen. "With MyGrowthRoom we offer professional cultivators the opportunity to do their own product research under the best possible circumstances.”

Nijssen can be visited in hall 8 at stand 133 during the GreenTech trade fair.

BOM Group will present a completely new greenhouse concept at the Greentech: the Winterlight Greenhouse. This concept, in combination with a new type of screen system by Svensson and light-diffusing glass, yields 10% more light.

The Winterlight Greenhouse, with all its installations, systems and products is currently built on the site of Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture in Bleiswijk and will measure 500 m2. This coming winter the greenhouse concept will be tested with a new cultivation method for a cucumber crop, focusing on the winter period. Crop trials are conducted with the cucumber variety Hi-Jack. This variety is especially suitable for winter cultivation because of its leaf shape and direction.

Reflection factor

The newly designed greenhouse structure is fully powder coated in white with an increased reflection factor of 90%. The greenhouse is glazed with SmartGlass, a new type of diffuse glass, sized 300 x 167 cm. Even if the glass is wet or condensed, the light transmittance does not decrease. The integrated Iso++ screen system is installed in a W-shape for optimal light transmission in closed position and is equipped with a new high transparent screen fabric of Ludvig Svensson with an even better light transmission. The new greenhouse concept is also equipped with an Air in Control climate system (overpressure air).

Consortium

The Winterlight Greenhouse was developed in collaboration with Wageningen UR, Svensson, Bayer Crop Science and Glascom Horticulture. The project has been made possible by the program Kas als Energiebron, the innovation and action program of LTO Glaskracht and the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

BOM Group will present the new greenhouse concept at the GreenTech, hall 8, stand 108.